Stuff one-year-old parents should know

Parenting a one year old is hard stuff, people. And many of your infant-parenting skills don’t transfer. While both are endurance sports, you can leave the room on a newborn and be pretty sure he’ll stay where you left him.

Before having a baby, I used to say I would spend my days on maternity leave “chasing my baby around” – I was ridiculous. You don’t chase a baby, you may bow down to his every whim and never sleep at night but you don’t start chasing until that baby begins to run from you.

Toddlers, with their immense curiosity and penchant for power plays, require constant supervision. This is what I would like to tell rookie parents about one-year olds:

1) There is chasing involved.
Did it just get too quiet? He’s about to fall on his head. Or gnaw off part of the doorstop boinger. Or worse. My kid loves to run for the road; he’s completely enamored by all motorized vehicles and wants to be up close. He has also figured out how to move stools or chairs near where he wants to climb (like toward the kitchen knives). Evil genius. I’m both proud and tired.

2) Mealtimes are ridiculous with throwing and other outlandish behaviors.
Feeding time is crazypants. Though one-year olds often have the chops to eat nearly every kind of food, they would rather throw it on the floor without even tasting (Toddler power play: look what I made the grown-up do!). If left to their own devices, they’d eat, wander, and play intermittently grabbing fallen crackers and drinking old bottles strewn on every surface like a nasty frat house. Forget having another adult conversation at mealtimes for at least another year.

3) Wrestling is required. You never have to strong-arm a baby. Am I right? Well, daily wrestling matches include:

Changing diapers. My boy is STRONG. He twists and arches. And kicks. Into stuff (Ick!). I have learned to distract with soft toys that don’t hurt as much when it is flung in my face.

Shoving him into a car seat. I have to be firm and buckle before he can wiggle down to the ground. I also sing songs, tickle, and anthropomorphize little vehicles as a distraction.

Putting on a jacket. I spend a good ten minutes chasing him and coaxing him into shoes and a coat. Putting a hood up is torture so I avoid it.

4) Things just got interesting. These tiny people are hilarious and want you to laugh and play with them. They start to have their own hobbies and strong opinions. I mentioned that Sawyer loves vehicles; we’re always on the lookout for buses and trucks. When I’m driving alone, I find myself seeking out buses and sometimes saying ‘bus’ out loud to nobody.

Slowing down and enjoying their constant curiosity is one way to get through this phase of incredibly strong feelings and limited verbal skills.

Too funny! And so true! I don’t know where it comes from, but I’ve got that sixth sense that only a mother has–I can hear the pacifier fall out of the crib from across the house, and I can move lightning fast to keep a little head from hitting the floor. Amazing isn’t it? And yes, my little one is not quite two, and any opportunity to resist anything (carseat, diaper change…change of clothes!) is WWIII!!

I am impressed with the immense changes happening to their bodies and mind. My little boy totally knows what I’m saying because he will go get his blankie when I ask where it is but he chooses not to listen when I tell him to not climb the stairs :-). The other change of which I’m in awe is the teething. I can’t imagine as an adult getting 16 teeth in such a short time! I try to remember this when he gets too fussy and cut him some slack.

The thing that surprised me is that you have to keep sleep training the kid over and over again. I guess I thought that after we got him sleeping well on his own as a baby, we were done (ha ha!). When he could stand up in his crib (around 1 yr old) then it was a whole new round of sleep trouble. He would play with the light switch and stand at the foot of his crib screaming when he was put to bed. I don’t quite know why it was worse to have him standing up and crying/screaming, but it was. And of course it’s something different with the sleeping every few months.

@AKD, Napping the stander-upper is a whole different thing, huh? I use the timer on my phone to let him fuss for up to 12 minutes when I lay him down. Some kids like to squawk before they settle and it doesn’t mean anything is wrong.

My 11 month old daughter is on the verge of walking and all of the above occurs on a daily basis. She’s a fast crawler, so I’m constantly trying to keep up, especially if she’s spotted a soggy cheerio she’s thrown on the floor from an earlier meal (yuck!). Changing diapers often times requires two adults and, putting her into the car seat is a nightmare, and sometimes I want to just wrap her in a cape instead of fight to put on her jacket. But I’d do anything to make her laugh, and her curiosity and play skills are developing so fast. Great post!

So good. Be prepared to know how to make all the sounds that animals make. When I see an animal, whether on tv or in a book, I find myself yelling, with delight, the sound the animal makes. Even when I look around and my little girl is not in the room.

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